Book Review

Four Weeks of Scandal
by Megan Frampton

This historical romance had a fun plot. Octavia Holton and Gabriel Fallon both arrive at a house in the village of Greenset, each assuming that they are the owner of the house. It is the house Octavia grew up in and she is sure her late, estranged father left it to her. Gabriel claims his own late father won the house in a bet. Unable to definitively prove which claim prevails, Gabriel and Octavia agree to stay in the house together, under the cover of a fake engagement, to fix up the house and look for documents that would settle the question of ownership. In the process, they fall in love.
There were a lot of great things about this romance. The premise was fun - I do love forced proximity. Several members of the village also move into the house as domestic help and chaperones for Gabriel and Octavia, which creates a lovely found family. I liked that Gabriel and Octavia were able to bond over their similar experiences of being neglected by a parent who had a gambling addiction. Gabriel is an appealing hero, as he is a scholar who studies mythology and thus has an attractive nerdy side. The thing that dragged this one down a bit for me was Octavia - she was not my kind of heroine. She is impulsive and prone to failing to think things through, plan, or fully consider the consequences. This makes her selfish at times. Octavia does grow over the course of the novel, but she never really clicked for me.